Noise suppression assembly

ABSTRACT

A noise suppression assembly adapted for use with a shuttle loom or a weaving machine. The assembly includes a pair of plates which are to be mounted on the loom, one of the plates being mounted on the lay and the other on the frame of the loom. The plates have a sound-absorbing material secured to the inner surface.

United States Patent [7 2] lnventor Harry R. Kennedy Greer, S.C.

[2|] Appl.No. 64,151

[22] Filed Aug. 3, 1970 [45] Patented Jan. 11, 1972 [73] Assignee TheRichen Co., Inc.

Greenville, S.C.

Continuation of application Ser. No. 866,223, Oct. 14, 1969, nowabandoned. This application Aug. 3, 1970, Ser. No. 64,151

[54] NOISE SUPPRESSION ASSEMBLY 17 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 181/33 K, 139/1 [51] lnt.Cl Gl 0k 11/00, D03d 49/02 [50]Field ofSeai-ch 181/33, 33.4, 33.6,33.7; l39/l;57/l

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,393,765 7/1968 Vitrinskyet al. l8 l/33.4 3,395,775 8/1968 Smith l8l/33.4 FOREIGN PATENTS 732,49l6/1955 Great Britain 57/l Primary Examiner-Robert S. Ward, Jr. Attorney-Lyon & Lyon ABSTRACT: A noise suppression assembly adapted for use witha shuttle loom or a weaving machine. The assembly includes a pair ofplates which are to be mounted on the loom, one of the plates beingmounted on the lay and the other on the frame of the loom. The plateshave a sound-absorbing material secured to the inner surface.

.l lllllllllt PATENTED JAN! 1 1972 SHEET 1 0F 3 INVENTOR. Mew flq/mv/Irma/14.

NOISE SUPPRESSION ASSEMBLY This application is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 866,223, filed Oct. 14, 1969, and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Shuttle looms and weaving machines have, ofcourse, been used extensively in the textile industry for many years.The loom is a basic and essential machine for the production of fabricfrom yarn. In the operation of a shuttle loom, as is well understood,warp yarns are fed from a beam or creel through harness, heddles, reed,lay and takeup where they are contacted by a shuttle which moves acrossthe lay carrying filling" yarn which is interwoven among the warp yarns.To propel the shuttle across the lay and also to stop the shuttle andprevent it from going beyond the end of the lay, the loom includes apicker on each side of the lay carried by a stick or arm which ismovably connected to the loom. As might be expected, the contact betweenthe shuttle and the picker creates considerable noise. Since even asmall mill may have 100 or 500 or more looms operating at the same time,the noise level can easily become excessive, in some instances on theorder of 102 decibels or higher.

Although the threshold of pain in noise is about 120 decibels, injury inpossible above 80 decibels and is believed to be almost certain at 90and above. In a textile mill, a worker in a weave room may require asmuch as 24 hours to regain normal hearing after working an 8-hour shift,and after working 1 year in an average weave room, normal hearing maynever be regained.

The problem of noise level in textile mills is well known and has beenthe subject of extensive government investigation and concern. The U.S.Department of Labor has issued regulations setting the upper noise levellimit at 90 decibels. It is thus imperative that means be provided forsuppressing or eliminating the noise produced by operation of theshuttle loom.

One approach which has been used in the past to reduce the noise levelin the weave room has been to install acoustical panelling in theceiling and the walls. While this reduces the noise somewhat, it is notadequate to attain the level of 90 decibels or less. Moreover, since themajor source of the noise in the weave room is' the loom itself, it isnecessary to approach the noise problem from that standpoint, i.e., tomodify the loom to suppress the noise when created.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is principal objective of the presentinvention, therefore, to provide an assembly for modification of aconventional shuttle loom to suppress the noise caused by contactbetween the shuttle and picker. This is accomplished by the provision ofa pair of plates which are to be mounted on the loom, one plate beingmounted on the lay and the other on the frame of the loom. A resilientmaterial is secured to the inner surface of the plates to assist indampening or suppressing the noise.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improvedshuttle loom having a noise suppression assembly mounted thereon.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a noisesuppression assembly of relatively simple construction which can bemounted on the loom with a minimum of time and effort.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a noisesuppression assembly which not only suppresses noise caused by contactbetween the shuttle and picker of the shuttle loom, but also permitsaccess to the lay. An additional object of this invention is to providea noise suppression assembly which also permits release of heatgenerated during operation of the loom.

Other objects, features and advantages will be apparent to those skilledin the art after a reading and understanding of the following moredetailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a shuttle loom illustrating the layand noise suppression assembly with the lay on front center;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view showing the lay and noise suppressionassembly closed with the lay on back center;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the loom taken on line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the shuttle,picker and noise suppression assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the noise suppression assembly; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5showing one form of the noise suppression assembly.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 14thereof, a conventional shuttle loom, such as a Draper loom, isdesignated generally by the numeral 1. Since both the loom and itsoperation are conventional, for the sake of brevity, the descriptionherein will be limited to the features to which the present invention ismost directly related.

The loom includes a lay 2 movable from a back center position (FIG. 2)to a front center position (FIG. 1) in the usual manner. The layincludes a back box plate 3 mounted on the back side of its uppersurface at the end thereof and a from box plate 4 mounted on the frontside of its upper surface, with box 5 formed therebetween in which theshuttle 6 is caught and retained at the ends of the lay. A picker 10 issupported on the picker stick 11, which is pivotally connected to theloom about shaft 12. A check strap 13 extends about the picker stick andis secured to the lay 2 at 14. As can be seen most clearly in FIG. 4,the picker 10 is positioned at the end of the lay 2 and contacts shuttlespur 15, which is normally metallic, when the shuttle is at that end ofthe lay. Movement of the shuttle across the lay is thus stopped bycontact with the picker and the shuttle is prevented from travelingbeyond the end of the lay. The picker, acting through movement of thepicker stick, serves to propel the shuttle across the lay to theopposite side. It is, of course, to be understood that the lay thus fardescribed is conventional and includes a picker, picker stick, checkstrap, etc., on both sides thereof.

The loom also includes a noise suppression assembly designated generallyby the numeral 20 mounted thereon. The assembly comprises a pair ofplates 21 and 22, plate 21 being mounted on the lay as for example bybolts 23 and 24 which extend through holes 25 and 26 respectively. Theplate 21 thus moves with the lay and extends above the front box plate 4to enclose the same. The second plate 22 includes a flange 27 and ismounted on the frame of the loom by bolts 28 and 29 which extend throughthe flange and is thus stationary. Plates 21 and 22 are hinged togetheras at 30 so that the lower edges 32 and 33 are retained together aboutthe shaft 12 and the picker assembly at its lower end. The edges 32 and33 are thus adjacent one another when plates 21 and 22 are closed at thetime the lay is on back center.

The upper surface 35 of plate 22 is positioned, as shown in FIG. 2, soas to be adjacent the upper surface 36 of the plate 21 when the lay isin its back center position. The plates 21 and 22 thus enclose the frontand back box plates, lay end plate 37, the picker assembly and theshuttle when the shuttle spur contacts the front and back box plates andthe picker, thereby suppressing the noise created by such contact and bythe contact between the picker and the lay end plate. Since plate 22 isstationary, however, when the lay 2 is in its front center position, theupper surface 35 of plate 22 is separated from the upper surface 36 ofplate 21, as shown in FIG. 1, to permit the release of heat generatedduring operation of the lay, to permit access to the lay, and also totransfer a full bobbin into the shuttle.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the construction of plates 21 and 22 isshown in more detail. The plates are preferably semirigid, heatandshock-resistant plastic such as polyvinyl chloride, when may be made'toconform to the contours of the parts of the loom and have noise-reducingproperties to improve the effectiveness of the noise suppressionassembly. The plates are of similar construction except for flange 27 ofplate 22, and include a slightly concaved inner surface 40. To improvethe effectiveness of the noise suppression assembly, a resilientinsulating or soundproofing material 41 is secured to the inner surfaceof the plates. The plates include cutouts 42 and 43 adjacent the upperand lower surfaces respectively which permit the plates to fit over thelay, pick shaft, lug connector and other moving parts of the loom frame(as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 3). The inner surfaces 41 alsopreferably conform to the parts of the loom to keep the parts thereofclean and thus enhance the operation of the loom. The plates also, ofcourse, must not interfere with proper operation of the moving parts ofthe lay and pick motion.

The sound-absorbing material is preferably a foamed plastic, such as aflexible or semirigid foamed polyurethane or foamed polyvinylchloride,such as that available from Phillips Foscue Company, secured to theinner surface of the plates by a suitable adhesive, such as a contactcement of US. Plywood Company. Foamed polyurethane is a preferredinsulating material because of its excellent ability to absorb sound,but other materials can also, of course, be used, such as the tar andfibrous deadening material used for automobile undercoating.

The noise-absorbing media is preferably flexible enough to conform tothe operating loom parts but rigid enough so that when bonded to plates21 and 22 it will not shed, tear, or change shape so as with age, tointerfere with the proper operation of the loom. The noise-absorbingmaterial which is used within the enclosures 21 and 22 should preferablyhave a closed cell structure so that the noise cannot penetrate theinner layer and cause the sound waves to contact the shell structure and21, thereby making the outer shell structure a sounding board oramplifier for the noise.

In one preferred form, as shown in FIG. 6, the foamed insulatin gmaterial is a laminate of layers 45 and 46 of the foamed material with awire backing 47 secured therebetween. The wire backing can be secured tothe foamed material by a suitable adhesive, such as the contact cementreferred to above. One advantage of the laminated construction is thatthe foamed material can be shaped to conform in a more permanent mannerto the inner surface of plates 21 and 22 and also with the configurationof the lay and the picker assembly.

It will thus be seen that a highly suitable assembly has been providedto suppress the noise created by contact between the shuttle and pickerof the conventional shuttle loom, the assembly is readily mountable onthe loom without requiring significant modification of the loom, is alsocapable of mounting with a minimum of time and effort. It will also beappreciated that the assembly serves to suppress the noise when createdby the loom and thus isan effective device for lowering noise in atextile mill to a tolerable level.

l claim:

1. In a shuttle loom having a lay mounted thereon, front and back boxplates mounted on the upper surface of said lay thus forming a box for ashuttle to transverse said lay, and means movably mounted on said loomhaving one end positioned in communication with said box adjacent theend of said lay to stop the movement of such shuttle across said lay andto propel the shuttle thereacross, the improvement comprising meansconnected to said loom to suppress the noise caused by contact betweensuch shuttle and said movably mounted means, said noise suppressionmeans comprising a first plate mounted on said lay enclosing said frontbox plate and said movably mounted means, and a second plate mounted onsaid loom in a stationary position having its lower edge adjacent thelower edge of said first plate and its upper surface positioned so as tobe adjacent the upper surface of the said first plate and enclose theback of said lay when said lay is in its back center position, wherebythe end of said lay and said box are enclosed between said first andsecond plates when the shuttle contacts said movably mounted means butsaid first and second plates are separated when said lay is in its frontcenter position to permit the release of heat and access to said 2. Theloom of claim 1 wherein said first and second plates of said noisesuppression means have a layer of soundproofing material secured to theinner surface thereof.

3. THe loom of claim 2 in which said soundproofing material is a foamedpolyurethane.

4. The loom of claim 2 in which said soundproofing mate rial has a wirebacking secured thereto.

5. The loom of claim 2 in which said soundproofing material is alaminate of a wire backing secured between layers of said soundproofingmaterial.

6. The loom of claim 2 in which said soundproofing material is a closedcell foamed plastic.

7. In a shuttle loom including a lay with front and back box platesmounted on the upper surface thereof thus forming a box therebetween,and a picker assembly including a picker and picker stick movablymounted on said loom having said picker positioned in communication withsaid box adjacent the end of said lay to propel a shuttle across saidlay and to stop movement of a shuttle, the improvement comprising noisesuppression means connected to said loom comprising a first platemounted on said lay enclosing said front box plate and said pickerassembly and a second plate mounted on said loom in stationary position,the lower edge of said second plate positioned adjacent the lower edgeof said first plate and the upper surface of said second platepositioned so as to be adjacent the upper surface of said first plateand enclose the back of said lay when said lay is in back centerposition, whereby the end of said lay, said box and said picker areenclosed between said first and second plates when a shuttle contactssaid picker, thus suppressing the noise caused by such contact, but saidfirst and second plates are separated when said lay is in its frontcenter position to permit the release of heat and access to said lay,said first and second plates having a laminate of a reinforcing materialsecured between layers of a foamed plastic secured to the inner surfacesthereof.

8. An assembly adapted for use with a shuttle loom to sup press noisecaused by contact between a shuttle and the picker comprising first andsecond plates having a layer of soundproofing material secured to theinner surface thereof, said first plate being adapted to be mounted onthe lay of a shuttle loom and said second plate being adapted to bemounted on the loom.

9. The assembly of claim 8 in which said soundproofing material is afoamed polyurethane.

10. The assembly of claim 8 in which said soundproofing material has areinforcing material secured to the surface thereof adjacent the innersurface of said first and second plates.

11. The assembly of claim 8 in which said soundproofing material is alaminate of a wire backing secured between layers of said soundproofingmaterial.

12. The assembly of claim 1 1 in which said soundproofing is a closedcell foamed plastic.

13. An assembly adapted for use with a shuttle loom to suppress thenoise created by contact between the shuttle and picker of such loomcomprising first and second plates having the inner surfaces thereof ofa slightly concaved configuration with soundproofing material secured tosaid concaved surfaces.

14. The assembly of claim 13 in which said soundproofing material is alaminate of a reinforcing material secured between layers of a closedcell foamed polyurethane.

15. The assembly of claim 14 in which said reinforcing material is awire backing.

16. The assembly of claim 8 in which said first and second plates are ofsemirigid, heat and shock-resistant plastic.

17. The assembly of claim 16 in which said plastic is polyvinylchloride.

1. In a shuttle loom having a lay mounted thereon, front and back boxplates mounted on the upper surface of said lay thus forming a box for ashuttle to transverse said lay, and means movably mounted on said loomhaving one end positioned in communication with said box adjacent theend of said lay to stop the movement of such shuttle across said lay andto propel the shuttle thereacross, the improvement comprising meansconnected to said loom to suppress the noise caused by contact betweensuch shuttle and said movably mounted means, said noise suppressionmeans comprising a first plate mounted on said lay enclosing said frontbox plate and said movably mounted means, and a second plate mounted onsaid loom in a stationary position having its lower edge adjacent thelower edge of said first plate and its upper surface positioned so as tobe adjacent the upper surface of the said first plate and enclose theback of said lay when said lay is in its back center position, wherebythe end of said lay and said box are enclosed between said first andsecond plates when the shuttle contacts said movably mounted means butsaid first and second plates are separated when said lay is in its frontcenter position to permit the release of heat and access to said lay. 2.The loom of claim 1 wherein said first and second plates of said noisesuppression means have a layer of soundproofing material secured to theinner surface thereof.
 3. THe loom of claim 2 in which saidsoundproofing material is a foamed polyurethane.
 4. The loom of claim 2in which said soundproofing material has a wire backing secured thereto.5. The loom of claim 2 in which said soundproofing material is alaminate of a wire backing secured between layers of said soundproofingmaterial.
 6. The loom of claim 2 in which said soundproofing material isa closed cell foamed plastic.
 7. In a shuttle loom including a lay withfront and back box plates mounted on the upper surface thereof thusforming a box therebetween, and a picker assembly including a picker andpicker stick movably mounted on said loom having said picker positionedin communication with said box adjacent the end of said lay to propel ashuttle across said lay and to stop movement of a shuttle, theimprovement comprising noise suppression means connected to said loomcomprising a first plate mounted on said lay enclosing said front boxplate and said picker assembly and a second plate mounted on said loomin stationary position, the lower edge of said second plate positionedadjacent the lower edge of said first plate and the upper surface ofsaid second plate positioned so as to be adjacent the upper surface ofsaid first plate and enclose the back of said lay when said lay is inback center position, whereby the end of said lay, said box and saidpicker are enclosed between said first and second plates when a shuttlecontacts said picker, thus suppressing the noise caused by such contact,but said first and second plates are separated when said lay is in itsfront center position to permit the release of heat and access to saidlay, said first and second plates having a laminate of a reinforcingmaterial secured between layers of a foamed plastic secured to the innersurfaces thereof.
 8. An assembly adapted for use with a shuttle loom tosuppress noise caused by contact between a shuttle and the pickercomprising first and second plates having a layer of soundproofingmaterial secured to the inner surface thereof, said first plate beingadapted to be mounted on the lay of a shuttle loom and said second platebeing adapted to be mounted on the loom.
 9. The assembly of claim 8 inwhich said soundproofing material is a foamed polyurethane.
 10. Theassembly of claim 8 in which said soundproofing material has areinforcing material secured to the surface thereof adjacent the innersurface of said first and second plates.
 11. The assembly of claim 8 inwhich said soundproofiNg material is a laminate of a wire backingsecured between layers of said soundproofing material.
 12. The assemblyof claim 11 in which said soundproofing is a closed cell foamed plastic.13. An assembly adapted for use with a shuttle loom to suppress thenoise created by contact between the shuttle and picker of such loomcomprising first and second plates having the inner surfaces thereof ofa slightly concaved configuration with soundproofing material secured tosaid concaved surfaces.
 14. The assembly of claim 13 in which saidsoundproofing material is a laminate of a reinforcing material securedbetween layers of a closed cell foamed polyurethane.
 15. The assembly ofclaim 14 in which said reinforcing material is a wire backing.
 16. Theassembly of claim 8 in which said first and second plates are ofsemirigid, heat and shock-resistant plastic.
 17. The assembly of claim16 in which said plastic is polyvinyl chloride.